Reports are swirling that Gen.G is looking to enter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports and that the organization wants to make that a reality by signing players from CR4ZY and Cloud9.
According to dbltap.com, Gen.G is actively pursuing Cloud9’s Timothy “autimatic” Ta and Damian “daps” Steele. The report also mentions that Gen.G has been in talks with Georgi “SHiPZ” Grigorov of CR4ZY.
For Cloud9, the moves make little sense from the outside. Autimatic has been on the Cloud9 roster since 2016 and stands as the last remaining member of the team’s 2018 ELEAGUE Major-winning roster. He has been the one constant on a team that has been repeatedly rocked by departures and failed trial runs, and remains one of North American CSGO’s best players.
Daps was only signed to the C9 roster in July, but is an experienced captain that enjoyed success with both OpTic Gaming and NRG Esports. Losing both of them would likely force yet another reset of Cloud9’s CSGO roster at a time when they have shown signs of growth.
Meanwhile, SHiPZ has had an unfortunately wild ride in the past month. His former team, Windigo Gaming, closed shop in October citing a lack of funds related to non-payments from tournament organizers. He was transferred to CR4ZY on November 4.
Gen.G is mostly known for its League of Legends team, but has explored expanding into CSGO over recent months. The team’s reach beyond Korea is also growing, with the organization revealing that it has received an investment from Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator.
It’s an interesting time for an outside organization to be entering the CSGO scene. Some established brands, most notably NRG Esports and Renegades, are exiting the space. NRG CEO Andy Miller had strong words regarding the CSGO ecosystem in September in an interview with Dexerto.
“The problem for us was not the team, it’s the Counter-Strike space…Honestly, I think it’s just bad business for an organization right now, unfortunately,’ Miller said.
Offsetting this are organizations like Evil Geniuses and 100 Thieves, who acquired the rosters of NRG and Renegades respectively, returning to Counter-Strike after years away. There have also been numerous reports of outside organizations like OG looking to jump into the game for the first time.
Autimatic, daps, and SHiPZ haven’t had much success in the past six months and all three are currently active with established teams. That makes it somewhat surprising that Gen.G is possibly looking to build a team around them.
The shuffle following the StarLadder Berlin Major has seen a number of top free agents scooped up by various organizations, but there are still plenty of names out there. This is doubly the case when one considers that players like Issa “ISSAA” Murad and Nathan “NBK-” Schmitt are sitting on benches right now, looking for a new home.
Autimatic, daps, and SHiPZ would still combine for a strong core group of players, but Gen.G would likely have to cut some sizable checks right out of the gate in order to bring them together.
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